Kazan is 730 kilometers (450 miles) east of Moscow. The only thing clearly known at the moment was revealed by a spokesman of the state aviation agency: “The plane touched the ground and bursted into flame.” The cause of the crash is not yet known but the authorities search for the flight recorders. According to IATA (International Air Transport Association), the accident rates had risen in Russia and the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States. What it is known, is that Russia and the former Soviet republics have one of the world’s worst air-traffic safety records. The total accident rate is almost three times the world average.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev appreciated this was a big tragedy and expressed his condolences to the relatives of the victims.
The crashed Boeing 737 airliner was 23 years old. There is a possibility it was affected because there were high winds and above-zero temperatures in Russia. After the accident, the Boeing company announced technical assistance to the Russian investigating authority.
Tatarstan declared a day of mourning on Monday.
